Ford's Hydrogen Record Setter: How It Works (with Video)

Racing has always driven automotive innovation. By building better race cars, automakers are ultimately able to deliver better production cars. So, in 2005, when students at the Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research approached Ford Motor Company about collaborating on a hydrogen fuel cell car capable of setting a land speed record, the automaker jumped at the opportunity. Just months before, the same group of innovative OSU scholars set a land speed record (315 mph) for electric cars. The Ford/Buckeye hydrogen fuel cell collaboration, the 999 Hydrogen Fusion, was unveiled this past July. On Aug. 15, 2007, it sped down the long course at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and hit 207.297 mph--the first world record for a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle. "This wasn't a PR stunt," says Ford project leader Matt Zuehlk. "All of the technology used on this vehicle is scalable, so it can be made to fit production cars down the road." Here's how it works.